I Almost Caved - My PT Saved Me

[Haselsmasher]

Hello all. I haven't been around in a while - because I haven't had much to offer. Last time I was here (~8 wks ago) I'd gotten a boot for a calcaneal stress reaction. That was taken off 4-5 weeks ago and I've been doing PT for my insanely tight calf. I've been receiving Gua Sha, which is the ancient eastern medicine version of today's ASTYM or Graston. It has helped a lot. The belief from my PT is that the whole suspension system is messed up and that needs to be made right to not put stress on the heel.

Over the weekend I got fed up. I was on my feet all day and my heels hurt in the evening. The next day I had to do the same thing so I threw my Superfeet in my shoes and THAT night everything felt great. I went to my PT appt today throwing out the idea "Maybe I should just bag this whole barefoot thing. Lots of people run in Superfeet. Maybe I should just be happy with that."

My PT, a bit to my surprise, recommended against that. "You're doing the right thing. Keep going. You're making progress. It's the right long term solution." While I've been going to this place for years and have immense respect for their skills, I didn't think they would so bluntly recommend that.

I've put them on the Barefoot Friendly map.

It's so nice to have Spring here. I can't wait to get outside sans shoes.

Jim

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Hasel, have you checked out Dr. Stoxen's site yet? He talks about the Human Spring theory, and he has a lot of self-help videos you can do to "unlock" your Human Spring. He was instrumental in Anthony's (Blue Wiggle) recovery from chronic pain by helping him to unlock his Spring. Anthony went on to write a book called "How I Got My Wiggle Back." Dr. Stoxen's main site's address is www.teamdoctors.org, but let me ask him if he has made available those videos and ask him to post back here as well.

And thanks for adding your PT to the map!

 

[Haselsmasher]

Thanks a lot TJ! I hadn't heard of Dr. Stoxen. A quick Google search lead me to some YouTube videos - although the two I looked at VERY quickly were more about the fact the theory exists - rather than going into the details. I think I did see one out there that is over an hour. That could be interesting.

In the book you reference does Anthony go into much depth about the human spring? I read some of the reviews on Amazon and it sounds like the focus of the book is a bit more about Anthony's road to recovery.

Fascinating stuff. I'll definitely look into it.

Thanks again.

Jim

 

[Barefoot TJ]

I'm not sure about what's covered in the book. I have a copy, but I haven't had time to read it yet. Sorry Dr. J! If I remember correctly he told me that he, Dr. J, has about four chapters in the book, and I'm sure he would have covered the Human Spring theory, as I believe that's the main way he healed Anthony. I know he encouraged Anthony to ditch his bulky shoes and go barefoot more, so that's covered in there. I sent him an email with the link to this thread earlier, so let's hope he responds.

Those don't sound like the instructional videos I saw. I searched his website, but I couldn't find them there. Dr. J is writing a couple of books about the Human Spring. Oh, and he's also one of our Ask the Docs, so you could check out his bio there for more info.

 

[jldeleon]

I am mostly done reading this book. I did just skim the first third however and got to the good part! The basic explanations of the mechanics of the theory, and cause and effect, are great. As far as the actual exercises, even after looking at the photos and/or reading the written descriptions of the techniques, I still found it necessary to watch the tutorials on youtube for clarification.